O nions will soon be
come profit as a Dogon
woman shapes the
pounded bulbs into balls
that, after being dried in
the sun, are trucked asfar
away as Cote d'Ivoire and
sold as an ingredientfor
sauces.
Introduced by the
Frenchafter the First
World War, onions are a
major cash crop. In the
early days women drew
waterfrom deep, wood
framed community wells
(bottom left) and carried
it in large pots balanced
on their heads to irrigate
the onion plots.
Today some villages
boast special wells dug
at the center of the village
garden (bottom right) and
reservedfor irrigation.
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